[NYTr] Venez: Chavez Announces New Cabinet Appointments
 
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 23:06:49 -0600 (CST)

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Venezuela Information Office (VIO)
http://www.rethinkvenezuela.com

excerpted from VIO Venezuela Daily News Roundup - Jan 4, 2008

[President Hugo Chavez announced changes to his cabinet in a telephone
interview broadcast on national television, reports the Associated
Press and Reuters today.  While most appointments still remain to be
finalized, Chavez did announce that Ramon Carrizales, the current
housing minister will replace Jorge Rodriguez as Vice President, who in
turn will head up Venezuela's new socialist political party.  Andres
Izarra, currently the president of Telesur will become the head of the
Ministry of Information and Telecommunications Minister Jesse Chacon
will be replaced by the current president of Venezuela's state-run
telephone company.  During the interview President Chavez explained
that the changes were aimed at tackling corruption and that all sectors
of society should feel included.  "We are not extremists," he said. At
least 13 changes are expected to be made to the cabinet. -VIO]

AP via Google - Jan 3, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i5j0w5xY14hsItAkI1Uu_KrYtPngD8TUQ9300

Chavez Appoints New Vice President

Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? President Hugo Chavez shuffled his Cabinet on
Thursday, naming a retired military officer as vice president and other
changes aimed at tackling corruption and inefficiencies in his
socialist government.

Ramon Carrizales, currently Venezuela's housing minister, will replace
outgoing Vice President Jorge Rodriguez, who will lead an initiative to
launch Chavez's socialist party later this month, the Venezuelan leader
said in a telephone interview broadcast on state television.

In Venezuela, the vice president is appointed directly by the
president ? rather than elected ? and is part of the Cabinet. The vice
president does not wield much power, but would take over the presidency
if the sitting president dies or is otherwise unable to fulfill duties.

Chavez, a fierce critic of Washington, also appointed Andres Izarra,
president of the Caracas-based TV network Telesur, to head the
Information Ministry.

Other changes include having Socorro Hernandez, currently president of
Venezuela's state-run CANTV telephone company, replace
Telecommunications Minister Jesse Chacon.

Chavez, who has vowed to transform Venezuela into a socialist state,
said he plans to make at least 13 changes ? most still unannounced ? in
his Cabinet. He said his government is seeking to tackle lingering
problems such as corruption and inefficiency within state-run
institutions.

The Venezuelan leader generally overhauls his Cabinet once a year,
usually moving close political allies from one ministry to another
while handpicking others from the military or state institutions.

                             ***

Reuters via The New York Times - January 4, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/world/americas/04venez.html

After Defeat, ChC!vez Plans Cabinet Sweep

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) ? President Hugo ChC!vez said Thursday that
he would make major changes to his cabinet, including naming a new vice
president, after a stinging defeat last month in a national referendum
that would have greatly increased his powers.

Mr. ChC!vez announced that he was replacing Jorge RodrC-guez, the vice
president, whom many ChC!vez supporters blamed for the loss of the
referendum, with RamC3n Carrizales, a former housing minister. In a
phone call to state television, Mr. ChC!vez said that he would make 13
changes to the cabinet but that he could not yet reveal most of them.

Voters in Venezuela narrowly rejected a proposal last month to overhaul
the nation's Constitution in a contentious referendum that would have
granted Mr. ChC!vez sweeping new powers, including the ability to run
for re-election indefinitely.

The loss was a stunning development in a country where Mr. ChC!vez
controls nearly all of the levers of power, and it represented a clear
rejection of the authoritarianism and cult of celebrity for which Mr.
ChC!vez is often criticized.

The referendum's defeat infused the normally fractured political
opposition with new life. Mr. ChC!vez's supporters, meanwhile, suddenly
found themselves consumed by doubt and recriminations.

Mr. ChC!vez said Thursday that it was important to reach out to the
middle classes and other sectors of society often alienated by his
self-styled Socialist policies. "We are not extremists," he said.

Mr. RodrC-guez, the departing vice president, was often viewed as a
combative figure whom Mr. ChC!vez brought in last year to oversee a wave
of nationalizations in the drive toward a Socialist economy. The
proposed reform shot down by voters was intended to help Mr. ChC!vez
achieve his vision of a Socialist state.

In the past few days, Mr. ChC!vez has softened his frequently strident
tone, appearing to accept common criticism about failures in basic
services like trash collection and policing.

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